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Mission Creep pt-3 [from verb to noun]

Over the last 2 days I have conjured a big discussion on mission creep, what it means and what it means to every leader, specialist and company owner.  One of my last posts yesterday was that the definition of mission creep is an individual one and will be defined by the leadership of the company or detail.  When mission creep occurs, you will hear it from senior members of the detail and then possibly by the leadership.  What one detail leader sees as normal behavior may be well within the “Red Zone” of mission creep of another, and that is fine.  The responsibility will always be to have clear and defined responsibilities and expectations.  What one detail leader sees as outside the scope, may be well within another detail leader’s “area of appropriate behavior”.

Client relationships are built upon many factors but the main one is the overall “worth” of the security provider to the client.  How that worth is measured can vary from client to client whereby one may view the extraneous non-security tasks as worthiness and the next client may weigh your worthiness based on professional standards.  I have one client [10+ years] that refuses to allow any of his staff or extended staff across the globe to task me or my team with anything non-security related.  Then I have others that could care less.

By the nature of what we do and what we provide, we are facilitators.  We facilitate ease of movement while providing a protective bubble.  We facilitate an air of comfort that allows decision makers to carry on their normal duties without having to worry about inconsequential issues unrelated to their jobs.  We ASSIST them by providing a safe and secure environment.  The Keyword “ASSIST” is a verb or action word.  When that word assist turns in to “ASSISTANT” [noun] you are in full blown mission creep.  An assistant to the client/principal is a title that is assigned to a staff member.  Crossing that line incorporates different expectations, and different responsibilities.  It is almost difficult to wear the protector and assistant hat at the same time.  The expectations of an assistant, more than not, conflict with what we do and perform.  There are not enough hours in the day to switch from hat to hat and even if there was you will have difficulty performing both titles at maximum capacity.

Stay the verb!

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